Improvement in propelling-cables fob bailroad guides



O. T. HARVEY.

PROPELLING GABLES FOR RAILROAD GUIDES.

Patented July 2, 1867.

THE norms PETERS co vkorcurncwmwwcwu o c.

nitr egi nt gam I @ffinr.

y CHARLES HARVEY, 0F TARRYTOWN, NEW YORK.

I Letters Patent 66,330, dated July 2, 1867.

nrrnovrnrnr IN PROPELHNG-UABLE-s roe RAILROAD GUIDES.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it' known that I, CHARLES THOMPSON HARVEY, of Tarrytown, in the county of Westchester, in the State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Propelling-Cablcs and Gable-Guides for Railways and other purposes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable those skilled in the art to make and usethe same, reference being had to the l accompanying drawing, forming-part of this specification, in which drawing- Figure 1 represents a propelling-cable and'two of its heads or ferrules, together with a longitudinal section of-a cable-guide. The figure shows also a part of a railway with a car thereon.

Figure 2 is a transverse section of a cable-guide, including also a section of the track with a car thereon.

'' Figure 3 is a plan view of a cable-guide, showing also a portion of a cable and one of its heads or ferrules. Figures 4 and 5 represent a top and a side view of a cable-head or ferrule with the modification of a lower l horizontal roller.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts. This invention relates to babies for propelling or moving cars or other bodies upon a railway track or otherwise, and to guides in which such cables move. r t

The 'letter'A designates the propelling-cable. In this example of my invention it is shown applied to the moving or propulsion of a car upon a railway track, but it may be applied together with the cable-guide to an ordinary roadway, or to towing vessels on canals or rivers without departing from the principle of my invention. The letter A designates cable-heads or ferrules which are placed at proper intervals on the cable, their oilice I being to gi e to the car the motion of the cable by coming in contact with some part of the car interposed before such heads-or ferrules. Said heads or ferrules consist of frames placed in or upon the cable in the axial line thereof, so as to be in effect parts of or continuations of the cable, and mounted upon vertical anti friction rollers or wheels, four in number in this example, (but the number of said whebls may be greater or less, as may be thought best.) From the upper part or surface of each head rises a vertical spur or projection, B, that extends upward above the level of the top of the cable-guide B, as shown in the drawing, so that the said spur can engage or come against the cable-clutch or arm G of the car. The face of said spur is in this exampleu made straight or plain, and is intended to operate against the-arm C of the car'by mere impact or contact there with, without being embraced by a clutch or other clasping deviceextending from the car. The face of said spur may be m. f a curved or hooked form, and in that,.case the opposing face of the'arm C should be curved conversely, i that the one may fit to the other, but in carryingout' this modification the spur and arm must not be so made as to lock them together and prevent their separation in the line of motion of the cable, or in lateral directions, it being an essential principle of this invention that the face of the spur shall not become attached or fastened to the carer tb the arm 0 thereof, but shall act against the same merelyby contact. The upper side of the head or ferrule A has horizontal anti-friction rollers D 1), before and behind its spur, the peripheries of which roll against the inner edges of ledges t t, which form the top'of the cable-guide and partly cover its cavity. The said ledgest t, in conjunction with the rollers D, keep the spur in a. proper vertical position and prevent friction. The sides of the vertical supporting rollers on which the heads A roll are kept from direct contact with the sides of the cable-guide by heads a 8 formed along the corners of the bottom of the guide, as seen in fig. 2. The heads a a form also guides'for said rollers and in conjunction with the under sur faces of the ledges t t prevent the heads from leaving the cavity of the cable-guide or becoming misplaced I; therein. Fig. 4 shows a modification of the cablehead, in which a horizontalanti-friction, roller, E, is fixed to the under surface of the head or ferrule for the purpose, among other things, of guiding and controlling the head at its lower part, whilc'it is moving in the cable-guide, and for the purpose of enabling it to turn angles or curves with ease. One or more such rollers E may be used. Said roller E is situated between the supporting vertical rollers about midway of. the length of the head, and its diameter exceeds the width of the head a little, so thatwhen the head is going along a. curve, the ends of the head will be freed from contact of friction with the interior of the cable-guide, the contact between the head and said guide at such portions of the guide being chiefly confined to the periphery of said roller E. The cable-guide B being-opena'bove between the ledges t t is liable i to become clogged insome seasons'of the year by ice or snow, and in order to obviate or prevent obstruction to the cable from this cause, I place Along the some, preferably alongits bottom, (where it maybe sunk in a groove) a steam pipe, 7, which is supplied with steam from the exhaust of the engines that give motion to the cable, or directly from .a boiler. The heat of the steam pipe will thaw and melt such ice or snow and turn the same into water, which will escape through occasional openings left in the bottom of the cable-guide.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The cable-bends or ferrules hereiniibove described, having .pluin operating feces so that they act on the cable-clutch or arm G of a, car by simple contact therewith, substantially as described.

2. I cluim'tne horizontal roller E on the underside of the cable-head, in combination with the supporting vertical rollers, substantially as described.

3. I also claim the combination of the vertical supporting rollers of the cable-head A with the upper horizontul rollers D D, and the lower horizontal roller E,zvll placed and operating substantially as set forth.

4. I also claim the vertical spur B of the cubic-head or ferrule projecting above the top of the cable-guide, substantially as described. 7

5. I also claim the heads a s of the cableguide, in combination with the cable-heads or ferrules A of a propelling-cable, substantially as described.

6. I also claim the ledges t t-of the cable-guide; in combination with the cable-head or ferrule, substantially as shown. I

7. I nlso claim the steam pipe r, in combination with a cable-guide, substantially as described.

CHAS. T. HARVEY. Witnesses:

H. G. HULL, J. VAN Ssmvoonn. 

